The present invention relates generally to a graphical user interface, and more particularly to a multi-service user interface that facilitates access to and exchange of information between two or more people when communicating remotely over a broadband network.
With the recent advancements in technology, the need for developing graphical user interfaces (GUIs) to allow users to interact with the technology is readily apparent. Examples of GUIs include windows and icons typically employed in a computing environment to provide quick file access or program execution. GUIs employ graphical images (e.g., icons) that represent one or more functions. For example, an envelope icon displayed on a computer screen when a user logs onto the Internet typically indicates that the user has received a new e-mail message. In this instance, the user simply uses a mouse or other pointing device to click on the envelope icon to retrieve the e-mail message (e.g., from an Internet Service Provider's (ISP's) server). This eliminates the need to use pull-down menus or manually dial an ISP's server to retrieve the voicemail message.
Communication systems currently available in the marketplace could benefit from the convenience of GUIs. For example, video conferencing systems which typically include complex architecture would be much easier to operate with a GUI. These systems utilize terminals installed at remote locations to allow multiple parties to communicate both orally and visually over a network. Typically, each location in a video conference includes a camera and a monitor. The camera captures an image at its location and sends the image to other locations participating in the video conference. The monitor at each location receives and displays images captured from the remote cameras. In addition, a voice communication link operates with the video images to transmit voices of the participants simultaneously with the video image. Although this video conferencing configuration allows multiple parties to see and hear each other over a network, the setup is not ideal in environments where the parties need to maintain eye contact while exchanging electronic documentation (e.g., such as in telemedicine environments). One solution is to develop a GUI that allows video conference participants to maintain eye contact while exchanging information.
Current GUIs typically employ a layered menu interface. This interface includes multiple menus that prompt the user to respond to each menu in order to access desired information. The layered menu interface, however, requires the user to manually scroll through menus and icons during the video conference, thus making it difficult to maintain eye contact with other parties to the conference. For example, in a video conference between a medical specialist and a patient, the medical specialist will need to control the flow of human interaction between the remote locations during the session. If the medical specialist is required to continuously scroll through and respond to electronic menus during the session merely to exchange information with the patient, valuable video conferencing time is wasted on mechanical control and the flow of human interaction is lost.
Another problem associated with current GUIs used in video conferencing systems is the limit on available network channels that carry video, voice, data, and audio between remote terminals, as well as the limited quality of service associated with each network channel. These limitations can undesirably affect the quality of the video conference by restricting the use of multimedia devices.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide an improved user interface for a video conferencing environment that is simple to use and operate.
It is also desirable to provide an improved user interface that allows users to control the flow of human interaction during a video conference.
It is further desirable to provide an improved user interface that facilitates the creation and exchange of electronic documentation during a video conference.
It is also desirable to provide an interface that supports a variety of multimedia devices and controls the costs associated therewith during the video conference.
Additional desires, features and advantages of the invention are set forth in the following description, apparent from the description, or may be learned by practicing the invention.